https://www.earthmagazine.org/tags/species/ Recent content in Species on EARTH Magazine Hugo en-US American Geosciences Institute. All rights reserved. Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:11:31 -0400 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/six-new-deep-sea-species-discovered/ Thu, 06 Apr 2017 10:11:31 -0400 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/six-new-deep-sea-species-discovered/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/six-new-deep-sea-species-discovered/Jabberwocky.jpg" alt="This mineralized deep-sea chimney, named &#34;Jabberwocky&#34; by researchers, is in the early stages of growth and provides habitat for many species near the Longqi hydrothermal vent site. Credit: University of Southampton." loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>This mineralized deep-sea chimney, named &#34;Jabberwocky&#34; by researchers, is in the early stages of growth and provides habitat for many species near the Longqi hydrothermal vent site. Credit: University of Southampton.</figcaption> </figure> <p>About 2,000 kilometers southeast of Madagascar and 2.8 kilometers below the surface of the Indian Ocean, scientists have discovered six never-before-seen animal species living around deep-sea hydrothermal vents. The creatures were spotted by a remotely operated vehicle during an expedition in 2011 to a site called Longqi, or &ldquo;Dragon&rsquo;s Breath,&rdquo; around which stand mineralized vent chimneys — some more than two stories tall — that are rich in copper and gold. Genetic testing confirmed the novelty of the animals, which include new species of polychaete worms and limpets as well as a previously unknown species of hairy-chested &ldquo;Hoff&rdquo; crab, named for actor David Hasselhoff.</p> https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/current-extinction-life-will-leave-scant-fossil-record/ Wed, 17 Aug 2016 13:18:15 -0400 https://www.earthmagazine.org/article/current-extinction-life-will-leave-scant-fossil-record/ <figure class="earth-figure"> <img src="https://www.americangeosciences.org/static/earth/current-extinction-life-will-leave-scant-fossil-record/coyote_illustration.jpg" alt="In this artist&#39;s illustration, a modern coyote examines the skull of a dead Pleistocene ancestor from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. Credit: Doyle V. Trankina (artist)." loading="eager" decoding="async"> <figcaption>In this artist&#39;s illustration, a modern coyote examines the skull of a dead Pleistocene ancestor from the Rancho La Brea Tar Pits. Credit: Doyle V. Trankina (artist).</figcaption> </figure> <p>Life on Earth has endured five major mass extinctions, known as the &ldquo;Big Five.&rdquo; We know about these past events thanks to fossils: During mass extinctions, many species evident in the rock record disappeared from Earth relatively quickly. Today, human alteration of the environment is driving what scientists call the sixth great extinction, but according to new research, the current extinction differs from the Big Five in a key way: Much of the life facing extermination today will likely not be preserved as fossils. This means that, to future paleontologists looking at the rock record from today, the sixth extinction might not appear to have been such a major event.</p>